Beware second-hand myki cards

THE Transport Ticketing Authority (TTA) is warning students not to buy second-hand myki cards.

TTA chief executive Bernie Carolan said they became aware of a small number of myki cards being offered for sale online by private individuals, and urged customers to purchase a myki card only through official channels.

While anonymous myki cards were available and preferred by some customers, Mr Carolan said a myki card could be registered to an individual in order to access additional benefits such as online account management, balance protection and online travel history.

Second-hand buyers of a myki card that had already been registered to someone else would not be able to access these benefits, or obtain a refund of any credit on the myki card, he said.

And while some second-hand myki cards have been put out on the market at a lower price than the card balance, students have no way of checking before buying whether the advertised balance was accurate, or whether the myki card even worked, Mr Carolan said.

“Students, or anyone buying a second hand myki from channels other than myki.com.au or approved outlets are doing so at their own risk.

“There is simply no good reason to purchase a myki from anywhere other than an official outlet,” he said.